What are you working on today?

D60 said:
How was that? I did an '07 6.7 recently and did nothing but b**** and moan about it
D

Post in thread 'What are you working on today?'

Was supposed to just be an oil change on '07.5 Cummins. But I noticed his tensioner pulley had weird "bubbles" and the belt looked questionable.

He leaves for a road trip tomorrow so I opened my big mouth.

I will say, this was one of the bigger PITA serps I've done (that didn't outright require removing the front clip or bend-over mode aka service mode).

Everything wanted to fight me. I finally rigged up a way to pull my serp tool with a ratchet strap to MAX out the tensioner travel and then barely got the belt on.
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Weird bumps on old tensioner pulley. Bearing was dry...
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Took me about 30-40 minutes, I could have been worse I guess. Hardest part was alignment of the pin into the bracket while trying to start the bolt. Took me a couple of attempts, the Gates tensioner was heavier than the Dayco that came off. The belt did drop down once but I was able to push it up from underneath and keep it in place while sliding the new pulley through. I did cheat by only taking the belt off the alternator and bungee cording it up which helped. I did gripe a bit but it saved me a $100 in labor most likely.
 
2017 Camry came in today with complaint of no brake fluid, brake light on dash, and brake pedal feeling like a cloud when applied. Got it in shop, almost slammed into the wall because it wouldn’t stop until you slammed the parking brake on. Brake caliper was destroyed, rotor destroyed, caliper on the other side was locked up too. And tires bald as could be. Getting two new calipers, new pads, new shims, new rotors on the front. Declined tires. I think the person lives in this car because it was absolutely disgusting but it’s a well paying ticket. There is no way the customer couldn’t hear it grinding.
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Going to Home Depot later to get a 2'X2'X1/4" piece of plywood to attach to the bottom of a chair on which our cats ripped off the original fabric bottom. Going to use the jigsaw in our shop at work to cut it to exact shape. Attaching it to the chair gives me an excuse to use my impact driver. :)
 
2014 Chevrolet Cruze 1.4 Ecotec 4 cylinder
replaced cooling fan assembly, turbo inlet hose, rotated tires and changed oil
shaping up to be a really light week
 
Today was undercoating day. Supposed to get flurries tomorrow and with my luck, the public works guys will be throwing salt down the minute they see a snowflake. I dropped the spare tire, pressure washed with my undercarriage attachment, drove around for a bit to dry it off, then pulled all the wheels off and started spraying.
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I used PB Blaster Surface Shield rather than Fluid Film this year. It was less gelatinous than F.F., and did not smell as bad, but otherwise was very similar. I mostly focused on the frame and suspension, but got some areas of the body as well.
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I rotated the tires since they were all off at the same time. I wanted to get the oil changed too, but not enough time in the day before work. That can be done inside the garage so it's not a huge deal to put off for a day.
 
Replaced the 2 bulbs that both burned out above the rear license plate on my 2009 Ford Flex. One was the original bulb, the other was replaced in March of this year but already failed. Total time about 20 minutes which included shaking and studying the light bulbs (dont know why I did this because I do not have any idea how they work)
 
AutoMechanic said:
2017 Camry came in today with complaint of no brake fluid, brake light on dash, and brake pedal feeling like a cloud when applied. Got it in shop, almost slammed into the wall because it wouldn’t stop until you slammed the parking brake on. Brake caliper was destroyed, rotor destroyed, caliper on the other side was locked up too. And tires bald as could be. Getting two new calipers, new pads, new shims, new rotors on the front. Declined tires. I think the person lives in this car because it was absolutely disgusting but it’s a well paying ticket. There is no way the customer couldn’t hear it grinding.
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With Winter coming soon, why would anyone want tires with tread? These are barely getting worn, I can tell because there are no steel belts showing yet. Just remember this is the car tailgaiting you, and they have no insurance 🤨
 
Finished product. Keep in mind this was a functional, not aesthetically focused job, done to keep cats from clawing and tearing up any more of the inside of the chair. My only disappointment was the cheap chair material that I was screwing into. A couple of wood screws spun/stripped but otherwise task complete.
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JoeDirt41 said:
Today was undercoating day. Supposed to get flurries tomorrow and with my luck, the public works guys will be throwing salt down the minute they see a snowflake. I dropped the spare tire, pressure washed with my undercarriage attachment, drove around for a bit to dry it off, then pulled all the wheels off and started spraying.
View attachment 250773
I used PB Blaster Surface Shield rather than Fluid Film this year. It was less gelatinous than F.F., and did not smell as bad, but otherwise was very similar. I mostly focused on the frame and suspension, but got some areas of the body as well.
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I rotated the tires since they were all off at the same time. I wanted to get the oil changed too, but not enough time in the day before work. That can be done inside the garage so it's not a huge deal to put off for a day.
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You have to do that over every year? Too bad they can't invent one long-lasting but I guess that would cut sales and profits.
 
LDB said:
You have to do that over every year? Too bad they can't invent one long-lasting but I guess that would cut sales and profits.
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It has to be touched up every year, but that's kind of the point. It's not a hard, permanent coating. It can be wiped off with a rag and degreaser. If it was any more resistant to wash-off, it'd lose its ability to penetrate and displace moisture.

My F-150 is 10 years old and has been in PA its whole life. It still has 95% of the original e-coat on the frame and zero corrosion on the body.

I buy it in 5 gallon pails, and it usually takes a gallon per year. Costs $170 for a 5 gallons, or about $35 a year.
 
Had to break out the topside creeper again for Triton 3V plugs on an '08 F150.

Per usual the local mice had deposited a substantial amount of seeds, dirt, feces, and surprisingly large pieces of gravel on top of the motor.

Despite copious use of shop air, a tiny (but hard) seed /nut fell into one plug well and lodged itself between the hex of the plug and the head wall. I spent WAY too long on that and no amount of pressurized air or vacuuming would free it -- until it finally did.
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Mouse nest in air box (this is one of the better arguments for aftermarket CAIs because there's nowhere for mice to enter)
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This mouse pooped all over the battery and snacked on some insulation while doing it:
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Using the Milwaukee Air Tip to get a piece of gravel my fingers just could NOT juggle. Also, who builds a nest with rocks??
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1999 Camry LE 2.2L I4 that I rehabilitated for my daughter's first car. I think it hates me. Every time I drive it, there's something else wrong with it. She probably didn't notice this new problem, but fan speed only works on high. Immediately I went looking for a resistor in the ductwork and found it within minutes. The solder joint attaching the metal strap to the resistor housing broke loose.

The metal looks corroded, but it's not. That's just bugs and crud that have burned onto the metal plate, which likely gets quite hot and why Toyota placed it in the duct. It cleaned up well, then resoldered the strip and all blower settings work great now. Saved $30.

Quite different than the blower resistors I'm used to, which are nothing but coiled wires placed in the air ducts. One of which nearly caught my old '85 F-250 on fire, as it was packed full of pine needles that got sucked through the cowl. Toyota has a better design, but definitely ancient technology.

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Not much to do today. Checked the fluid levels in the LS430 and the Highlander.

Gave the dipstick of the Highlander a whiff. 😳 Now I know what oil from a DI engine smells like. The oil has been run for 3,895 miles. Might be time to run a few Blackstone samples.
 
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